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“There is still a lot to do,” says Maduro about the questioned judicial system of Venezuela

January 31, 2023
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Caracas (AFP) – The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, affirmed this Tuesday that “much remains to be done” in the country’s justice system, criticized for its high procedural delay and accused of serving as an instrument to arrest political dissidents.

“There is much to be done, that is why here in the House of Laws (…), in the House of Justice I call to deepen today more than ever the judicial revolution in Venezuela so that justice reaches the man on foot, to the woman on foot,” said Maduro in a speech during an act for the start of the judicial year in the Supreme Court.

“Justice! Justice! Justice! Our people ask, our people cry out, Justice, honesty.”

The Venezuelan Judiciary has been accused of serving Maduro with convictions of opponents and decisions favorable to his political agenda.

From left to right in the first row the Comptroller General of Venezuela, Elvis Amoroso; the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro; the president of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), Gladys Gutiérrez; the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, and the president of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Pedro Calzadilla during the inauguration ceremony of the judicial year in Caracas on January 31, 2023.
From left to right in the first row the Comptroller General of Venezuela, Elvis Amoroso; the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro; the president of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), Gladys Gutiérrez; the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, and the president of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Pedro Calzadilla during the inauguration ceremony of the judicial year in Caracas on January 31, 2023. © Yuri CORTEZ / AFP

The International Criminal Court (ICC) even opened an investigation for crimes against humanity and a UN report concluded that intelligence services committed crimes against humanity under the orders of high-ranking members of the government.

Maduro received the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, over the weekend, who stressed that the government was willing to continue working to “improve the justice system.”

He also called for the release of all those arbitrarily detained and measures to put an end to torture.

“I had a fruitful and long conversation, meeting with him,” Maduro said of the representative.

“I insisted that Venezuela went from a State whose policy was the continuous violation of human rights, to a State under construction whose State policy is justice (…) and respect for human rights.”

The UN High Commissioner has been working in Venezuela since 2019, under the representation of a commission that was installed by Michelle Bachelet, Türk’s predecessor, in order to monitor and provide assistance in the human rights situation after a wave of complaints from victims.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk (left) speaks with Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro after a meeting at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, on January 27, 2023.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk (left) speaks with Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro after a meeting at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, on January 27, 2023. © Federico PARRA / AFP

Bachelet said before leaving office that she saw progress on human rights, but that there was still “more to do.”

The NGO Foro Penal denounces that there are 274 “political prisoners” in Venezuela.

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